Current opportunities at UAF
Are you faculty looking for undergraduate students to work on your project?
If you are a faculty member or graduate student with a project and you are seeking undergraduates, please let us know so we can share your opportunity. We will post your project on this page as well as email our students.
Please check back often!
New listings are posted when received. Even if some appear out of date, it's worth
checking with the faculty member.
Contact: Dr. Javier Fochessato
Phone: 907-474-7602
317 Akasofu Building
Email: gjfochessato@alaska.edu
Implementation of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver oriented to unmanned aircraft systems development. CFD codes are used to numerically solve the fluid the around wings and aircraft body to compute lifting, drag and momentum in dynamic flying conditions and control. Familiarity with C language and Python is preferred.
Contact: Uma Bhatt
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
Email: usbhatt@alaska.edu
Are you interested in mining big data to investigate Alaska/Arctic climate or fire weather and sea ice seasonal forecasts? Do you like to make plots to explain the story that climate data tells? Contact Dr. Bhatt to learn more about potential projects related to high-latitude climate processes.
Contact: William Howard
Professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry
Email: wahoward@alaska.edu
Phone: (907) 474-6019
We are looking for one undergraduate student to work on the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of water-soluble zirconium complexes having biologically relevant ligands. With some hard work, I think we can accomplish enough results in the 2020-2021 academic year to publish a peer-reviewed journal article. The student will be a co-author on the paper.
The student must have a love for chemistry and an interest in the role that metals play in human biochemistry and physiology. This position is for the 2020-2021 academic year, longer if the student wishes to do so.
We do not have funding, but encourage the student to seek funding from URSA, BLaST, or INBRE.
Deadline to Apply*: Sunday, February 28, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as
some projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Elisabeth Nadin
enadin@alaska.edu
474-5181
I would like to create online tools for teaching field geology. Primarily I have in mind using Minecraft, but I also want to tap into the apps that incoming college students are using regularly. I was thinking of starting with imagery that we already have, particularly of the permafrost tunnel or of sites outside of Alaska that have 3D imagery already.
Prerequisite: Comfort with building virtual worlds is a plus.
Timeline: Minimum 4 months, maximum 7 months (but I am open for longer if students are interested in continuing.)
Benefit: Credit for independent study or undergraduate research.
Deadline to Apply*: Wednesday, December 15, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Elaine Drew
Email: emdrew@alaska.edu.
(Due to COVID-19, I am not in the lab everyday to answer the phone, so email is the
best way to reach me.)
Hello students! Do you want to learn more about social and behavioral health sciences
research? If you do - read on!
My name is Dr. Elaine Drew and I have worked with many undergraduate students on research
projects examining culture, physical activity, and wellbeing. One of our research
sites is the Student Recreation Center (SRC) on campus.
For example, in one recent project, we developed and conducted a survey to learn more
about patterns of recreational gym use and experiences with symptoms of seasonal depression.
In another project, we conducted participant observation, interviews, and a survey
to examine how and why people use different spaces within the gym. If these topics
are of interest to you, please contact me to learn more!
Prerequisite: The only prerequisite is a passion for learning about beliefs and behaviors related to human health (broadly defined).
Timeline: To get the most out of the experience, a one-year commitment is preferable.
Benefits include access to the Medical Anthropology Lab in room 407 Bunnell. This
lab is designed to facilitate small group instruction, mixed-methods research, and
anthropometric procedures. The lab has several computer workstations for students
and a variety of equipment for lab use and/or check out, including: a Marantz Professional
PMD660 portable solid state audio recorder, numerous Tascam DR-05 digital voice recorders
(carry cases and accessories), transcription kits, high quality headphones for transcription,
a portable stadiometer height-rod, and a Tanita SC-240 Total Body Composition Analyzer.
The computers in the lab provide access to a variety of software programs, including
Atlas.ti (for qualitative data analysis), Remark Office OMR (for creating surveys,
tests, assessments and evaluations), and Tanita HealthWare software (for recording,
tracking, and analyzing body weight, body water, body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat
rating, bone mass, BMI, and more).
I am happy to provide you with the names and emails of students I have worked with, so that you can get their perspectives on what it is like to work with me!
Deadline to apply*: Friday, December 30, 2022
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Todd Brinkman
Phone: 474-7139
Email: tjbrinkman@alaska.edu
Alaska EPSCoR is seeking an undergraduate student (sophomore, junior or senior) to assist with a data visualization project for the Spring semester. The student will work with researchers to design and execute an interactive visualization of soundscape research on aircraft activity over traditional (subsistence) harvest areas. The data were collected along caribou harvest corridors for the village of Nuiqsut in 2016. Preference will be given to a student from a North Slope community who is currently in good academic standing at UAF.
Some experience with web design, computer programming and/or GIS would be beneficial but not required.
Funding: Student Assistant C position, up to 20 hours per week
Contact: Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization
Phone: 907-474-2605
Email: uaf-oipc@alaska.edu
UAF’s office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization (OIPC) works to identify university innovations, analyze such technologies for marketability and patentability, protect the technologies as intellectual property, and market and license the technologies for the benefit of the public, the university, and our community."
Seeking 2 students, any year of study, willing to learn and work on GIS, climate and
wildlife data.
This project provides opportunities for students to explore and work-up specific forestry
and climate GIS data for birds and habitats in Interior Alaska.
Students will gain experience in learning geographic information systems (GIS, ArcGIS or QGIS), insights into landscape ecology, bird, habitat and climate management issues, and digital data skills for Alaska. Office space, hardware and software provided.
Experience required: R skills would ideal, or at least a willingness to learn
Funding: None provided. Students would need to seek funding from URSA Project application or find another source if they require funding. Project coordinator would help with the process.
Contact: Andrej Podlutsky
Associate Professor of Molecular Biology
Email: apodlutsky@alaska.edu
Phone: (907) 474-6759
Office: AHRB-2W04
* Hibernation and DNA repair
Hibernating animals exhibit low body temperature for several months. Most known cellular
repair enzymes are active at normal body temperature removing all kind of DNA damages.
So what happens to this process when animals are hibernating? One of the possible
protective mechanisms during hibernation is DNA compaction, when vast stretches of
DNA are compacted, becoming structurally similar to heterochromatin, and inaccessible
for transcription. In collaboration with Dr. Kelly drew Lab we are studying this process
in Arctic ground squirrels, which lives at least twice as long as similar size rats.
Relevance to the field of aging research: it has long been noted that hibernating
mammalian species are long-lived compared to similarly sized non-hibernators. However,
an exact molecular mechanism(s) remains elusive. With our current project, we will
be able to determine not only the importance of DNA compaction for cellular protection
but also shed light on a possible molecular mechanism behind the exceptional longevity
of hibernators.
* DNA repair in virally infected cells
Humans come into regular contact with a spectrum of infectious agents, such as viruses.
According to the CDC, there are over 200 viruses that contribute to just the common
cold. Viruses will infect host cell DNA and begin to produce new viruses. In addition
to viral challenges, cells must defend against endogenous threats like oxidative stress,
which cause a variety of DNA damage and could lead to mutations. Our hypothesis is
that the virus-infected cells could not repair their own damaged DNA properly and
as a result, the damage is passed onto subsequent generations in the form of mutations.
Accumulation of damaged and mutated DNA results in a predisposition to cancer and
subsequent progression to tumor formation. For example, individuals infected with
HIV/AIDS, show a greater increase in certain types of cancer, like Kaposi sarcoma
and leukemia. Using the BCBL1 cell line as a model, we are studying DNA repair during
the lytic-stage of viral infection.
* DNA repair in cancer cell lines
The National Institute of Health lists approximately one hundred human cancerous cell
lines, which are used in research in the USA and worldwide. Most of these cell lines
exhibit some degree of genome instabilities, like chromosomal aberrations, genes loss,
and point mutations. However, in many cases little is known about DNA repair processes
in those cell lines. We are studying just that, how cancerous cell lines are dealing
with the DNA damage caused by X-ray or UV-C exposures, how they activate apoptotic
or survival programs. By doing this, we will provide cancer researchers with valuable
information on widely-used cancer cell lines.
Eligibility
Freshman, Sophomore or Junior standing. GPA 3.0 or higher with a strong desire to
do research in a lab - about 20 hours/week. Even if you do not have lab experience,
you should consider applying.
Assistance Provided
Laboratory training, authorship on publication (your research) and a strong recommendation
letter (upon completion of the project). Possibility of pay.
Contact: Joseph Holt
Term Assistant Professor of English and Ice Box Faculty Advisor
Email: jaholt3@alaska.edu
Ice Box, UAF’s undergraduate literary journal, is open for submissions for its 2021
issue.
Students are welcome to submit fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, hybrid work and
visual art. We'll publish all accepted work in Ice Box, Vol. #17 and provide complimentary
copies to all contributors.
UAF recently had a news release about this opportunity: https://news.uaf.edu/ice-box-
FYI: Next spring, students in ENGL 482: Topics in Language and Literature, “Practicum in Literary Publishing,” will review submissions and prepare Ice Box for publication.
This video describes our call for submissions: https://youtu.be/zizI0LMwVEE
Deadline to Apply*: Friday, December 11, 2020
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Sarah Stanley
Faculty in English Department
Email: sstanley2@alaska.edu
Phone: (907) 750-8978
Looking for 7 undergraduate students registered for the 2021-2022 academic year.
This opportunity connects you to the Learning Inside Out Network. The Learning Inside Out Network supports education and creative collaboration between people who are inside and outside of Alaska’s jails and prisons. As a grassroots group, we catalyze community wellness projects and advocate for individuals and families affected by incarceration.
The Inside Out Story Lab creates data stories (animated visualizations) for the non-profit
Short Edition through a global network of short story dispensers. Short Edition has
over 300 of these dispensers providing stories every day at a push of a button. The
dispensers are located on five different continents and they are at train stations,
hospitals, libraries, universities, and soon we hope prisons and jails.
Researchers in this lab will work in teams to provide a "story of a story" to an author
published through Short Edition and whose story circulates through the dispensers.
Each project in the lab is an opportunity to learn how to work with heat map data,
be creative collaboratively, and grow the power of a story.
Prerequisites: None
Time commitment: 2 months
Pay: No, but we can mentor anyone who might want to advocate for their own funding through URSA opportunities.
Benefits:
- Basic statistics in data visualizations
- Managing international, multilingual relationships
- Collaborating on a creative project
- Designing a research question
Deadline to Apply*: Friday, June 30, 2023
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Hannah Myers
Graduate Student in Marine Biology
Email: hmyers8@alaska.edu
Phone: (509) 496-2185
Looking for 2 undergraduate students registered for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Students interested in this project will have the opportunity to design their own
project studying the ecology and vocal behavior of killer whales that live in the
Gulf of Alaska using passive acoustic monitoring techniques. We have collected a nearly
five-year acoustic data set from hydrophones located in Kachemak Bay, Kenai Fjords,
and Prince William Sound. Preliminary findings from this research have provided insight
into the year-round spatiotemporal distribution and residency times for the three
killer whale populations that commonly inhabit these areas.
This data set can also be used to answer questions regarding killer whale vocal behavior,
social interactions, habitat use, and temporal abundance patterns. For example, which
specific calls does a killer whale pod use most often? Does this change in the presence
of other pods? Are killer whales detected most often during the day or night, or do
their detection patterns correlate with tidal cycles? Students will be encouraged
to design a project tailored to their interests.
Additionally, passive acoustic monitoring is a rapidly advancing technology with broad
applications in marine and terrestrial biology. Students will learn about passive
acoustic monitoring methodology and uses through direct experience.
Students with an interest in machine learning may have an opportunity to apply such
algorithms to automatically identify whale calls.
Prerequisites:
Students with a background in biology and/or marine science are preferred; however,
interested students from other disciplines will be considered. For example, computer
science students may be interested in developing and applying machine learning methodologies
to identify whale vocalizations. A focused and meticulous work ethic is necessary
when working with passive acoustic monitoring data. Students from groups that are
underrepresented in STEM disciplines are particularly encouraged to apply.
Time commitment:
Students who are able to commit to this project for more than one semester are preferred.
This project would be appropriate for a senior capstone research project.
Pay:
Funding has not yet been secured to pay undergraduate researchers, but the mentor
will work with interested students to prepare applications to URSA, BLaST, etc. to
secure funding.
Benefits:
Students will be assisted with developing poster and/or oral presentations describing
their findings and in identifying appropriate communications outlets to share their
work. Students who are dedicated to this project and are interested in learning more
about other killer whale research methods can be connected with a local non-governmental
research organization to pursue potential internship opportunities. Other professional
development opportunities will be supported as they arise.
Other information:
Opportunities to conduct independent research on cetaceans, particularly killer whales,
as an undergraduate student are rare. This is an exceptional opportunity to delve
into questions of interest to the student using a well-developed data set and methods,
with the potential for meaningful results to be uncovered within a relatively short
timeframe. Passive acoustic monitoring research requires focus, dedication, and attention
to detail and students working on this project will be expected to display independent
motivation.
Deadline to Apply*: Friday, October 15, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Mario Muscarella
Email: memuscarella@alaska.edu
Phone: (907) 474 7955
Opportunities exist in the Muscarella Lab for 1-2 students interested in learning microbiology and contributing to lab experiments for calculating the energetic requirements of diverse bacteria. Students will help maintain a system of continuous cultures (chemostats) at a range of temperatures and dilution rates. Students will help setup and maintain experiments, collect and interpret data, and will have the potential to contribute to the preparation of research publications.
Students will learn aseptic techniques for safely handling microorganisms and how to maintain long term cultures. They will use basic chemistry to prepare solution and culture media, as well as have the ability to extract DNA and sequence genomes.
Looking for students interested in working 10-20 hrs per week for the semester with
the option of continuation.
Funding is available to pay students $10.50/hr
Prerequisites: None, students will be fully trained in all techniques
Deadline to Apply*: Tuesday, December 1, 2020
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Russ Hopcroft
Project Lead
Email: rrhopcroft@alaska.edu
The NSF-funded Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Research (NGA LTER) project
invites undergraduate students to participate in our interdisciplinary oceanographic
research this summer. This cohort of REU students will join our team from June 7 to
August 27, 2021. The application period closes February 15, 2021. Student support
includes a stipend of $5760; additional funds may be available to offset housing and
transportation costs. Detailed program information is available at nga.lternet.edu/education-
The NGA LTER is one site within the national LTER Network. Our research team investigates
the features, mechanisms, and processes that support NGA ecosystem production and
foster its resilience. Scientists conduct field work, including ship-based experiments,
run computer models of the ocean, and communicate findings through education and outreach
partners. Additional information can be found at ngalter.alaska.edu
We seek highly motivated undergraduates with interest in marine science, biology,
chemistry, and/or physics to work with scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Student research will integrate with work currently being done on the NGA LTER ecosystem.
Oceanographic research themes include biogeochemical cycling, microplankton ecology,
physical oceanography, chemical oceanography, zooplankton ecology and molecular studies.
Dates: June 7 to August 27, 2021
Stipend: Stipend of $5,760 for a full-time position (40 hours per week) over 12 weeks.
Looking for:
- Junior (spring 2021)
- Senior (spring 2021)
Prerequisites:
- Required:
- College level background in biology, chemistry, physics, or marine science.
- The ability to carefully follow instructions.
- Desire to work in a team setting.
- Communication skills.
- Desired:
- Upper division status in a Bachelor of Science program.
- An interest in continuing scientific research upon graduation.
Deadline to Apply*: Monday, February 15, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Questions? Please contact projectmanager.ngalter@gmail.
See our website for full information: https://nga.lternet.edu/
Contact: Cheng-fu Chen
Professor in Mechanical Engineering
Email: cchen4@alaska.edu
We are looking for 1-2 undergraduate researchers to work with graduate students on the development, testing, and characterization of the procedures for coating organic polystyrene to the metallic surface by air plasma.
Prerequisites:
- Complete the needed lab safety training
- Fundamental knowledge about polymers
- Chemistry lab experience (e.g. through class lab sessions) is preferred
- Show passions for exploratory research
- Be available until 7/31/2021
Benefits :
- Potential co-authorship of journal publications
- Potential hiring through future funding
- Expedite the process toward an MS degree
Deadline to Apply*: Saturday, July 31, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Contact: Michael Stekoll
Phone: (907) 723-0058
Email: msstekol@alaska.edu
Tamsen Peeples
Phone: (907) 723-1256
Email: tnpeeples@alaska.edu
We are looking for 2 students to assist a graduate student in a lab and conduct field work studying seaweed physiological ecology and mariculture. Some duties would be analyzing water samples for nutrients, data entry, microscopy quantification work, working with cultures of seaweeds, assisting with sampling at field sites
Prerequisite:
Student must be located in Juneau, AK. Some background in biology and science laboratory
would be helpful.
How long?
Minimum would be one semester for at least 10 hours/week. We would prefer for a student
to stay longer. Maximum would be two years, including summer work
Pay:
Stipend would be a normal undergraduate salary.
Benefits:
Benefits would be gaining actual experience in a scientific lab and field setting.
Such as: learning various lab and field techniques, working with a team, learning
how to ask scientific questions and design meaningful experiments and gaining experience
in data acquisition and analysis.
Deadline to Apply*: May 1, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Associate Professor of Botany and Curator of the Herbarium (ALA), UA Museum
Phone: 907-474-6277 (office)
Email: smickertbond@alaska.edu
Campbell Webb
Phone: 907-474-7109
Email: cowebb@alaska.edu
Dr. Ickert-Bond is looking for three highly motivated students to work with plant taxonomy and contribute to the development of the new Flora of Alaska. Students will help with taxonomic detective work, data curation, and gain skills in biodiversity informatics. Opportunities start with one semester and may available for up to three years.
Students may be any year of study and will earn $12/hour. The call for this position will be on UAF job site soon. https://alaska.edu/jobs/Herbarium website and Facebook: https://www.uaf.edu/museum/
https://www.facebook.com/
Professor of Atmospheric Sciences
Email: cmoelders@alaska.edu
Undergraduate students interested in:
1) Research on the thermal comfort at various ambient temperatures
- Carrying out comfort surveys and relating them to meteorological conditions.
- Students from engineering, geography and geophysics are encouraged to apply
2) Transpiration experiments
- Building a mannequin that pulls water from a reservoir to measure its skin temperature,
evaporation of water at different ambient air temperatures.
Contact: Will Burt
Assistant Professor - Department of Oceanography
Email: wburt2@alaska.edu
Phone: 907-378-6024
Recently, our lab purchased the components and built an autonomous water sampling system and deployed it on the UAF-operated world-class icebreaker R/V Sikuliaq. This system functioned well, but to achieve optimal operation, the system needs significant improvements.
Such improvements include:
a) Making the system more compact to increase portability and use of other vessels.
b) Submerging our primary instrument within an enclosed water-bath to improve performance.
c) Adding additional 'clean water' supply ports to improve calibration techniques.
d) Generally improve the system's wiring/electronics.
We are looking for a technically-skilled undergraduate students (e.g. an engineering
student) to assist our group in building and testing these system components. The
student would work alongside myself and my graduate student in a CFOS workshop
The project could take anywhere between 2-4 months to complete, depending on how many hours/week were spent.
Prerequisite: Technical skills in electronics, wood-working (including work with plexiglass), a background in science, and a keen interest in scientific applications for this type of work.
Pay: Without funding, I would be willing to fund the ideal candidate for some of all of the time needed to complete this project. To ensure enough funding was available to take the project to completion, I would hope to have URSA, BLaST or INBRE funding.
Benefits include:
- Learning various scientific applications of skilled technical work.
- A potential visit aboard R/V Sikuliaq to initially install the completed device.
- Meeting and working with various students and researchers in the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
Deadline to Apply*: Friday, December 31, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.
Professor of Atmospheric Science
Phone: (907) 474-7607
301 Akasofu Building
Email: rlcollins@alaska.edu
Undergraduates have the opportunity to work on a variety of projects addressing the weather and climate of the upper atmosphere. Students can work on experimental projects and observations associated with the Lidar Research Laboratory at Poker Flat Research Range (LRL-PFRR). Students can also work on analytical projects using datasets that have been acquired at LRL-PFRR.
Contact: William Howard
Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry
Phone: (907) 474-6019
Email: wahoward@alaska.edu
The student will carry out inorganic syntheses of amino acid complexes of zirconocene, using Schlenk techniques and an inert atmosphere glovebox. The student will isolate new chemical products and characterize the products by multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and by infrared spectroscopy. The aim of this project is to investigate the role of zirconocene in mediating or catalyzing peptide bond formation.
Ideally, the student should have taken chemistry courses at the 100 and 200 levels, but this is not strictly necessary. All laboratory training will be done by Prof. Howard.
How long would the student need to work with you? The student should work in the lab 3 to 6 hours per week.
Pay? No, but the student will be encouraged to apply for funding through URSA, INBRE, or BLaST.
If you do not have funding, are you willing to mentor the student if they apply to URSA, BLaST for INBRE for funding? Yes.
Benefits: Yes. If the student is willing and if funds are available, the student will be encouraged to present his or her results in a research poster in a scientific conference. Prof. Howard will help the student to prepare the research poster.
Other info: This research is likely to lead to a peer-reviewed publication with the student listed
as a co-author.
Deadline to Apply*: Monday, May 31, 2021
* Even if some appear out of date, it's worth checking with the faculty member as some
projects may extend past the deadline.